An Act To Reduce the Burden of Tobacco-related Illness by Increasing Revenue from the Cigarette Tax for Use for Tobacco Cessation
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §4365-F, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 457, Pt. AA, §3 and affected by §8, is repealed.
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §4365-G is enacted to read:
§ 4365-G. Application of cigarette tax rate increase effective November 1, 2017
The following provisions apply to cigarettes held for resale on November 1, 2017.
Sec. 3. 36 MRSA §4366-A, sub-§2, ¶D, as amended by PL 2007, c. 438, §93, is further amended to read:
Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §4366-E is enacted to read:
§ 4366-E. Additional tax
Beginning November 1, 2017, an additional tax is imposed on all cigarettes imported into this State or held in this State by any person for sale at the rate of 75 mills for each cigarette. The tax imposed under this section must be added to the tax imposed under section 4365 and collected and administered in the same manner as the tax under that section. Payment of the tax is evidenced by the affixing of stamps to the packages containing the cigarettes.
Sec. 5. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF (FORMERLY DHS)
Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention 0143
Initiative: Allocates funds for tobacco use prevention and cessation.
| GENERAL FUND | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
|
All Other
|
$8,100,000 | $8,100,000 |
 |
|
|
| GENERAL FUND TOTAL | $8,100,000 | $8,100,000 |
Medical Care - Payments to Providers 0147
Initiative: Allocates funds for tobacco use cessation medications and counseling provided to MaineCare members.
| GENERAL FUND | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
|
All Other
|
$1,000,000 | $750,000 |
|
|
|
| GENERAL FUND TOTAL | $1,000,000 | $750,000 |
| HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF (FORMERLY DHS) | ||
| DEPARTMENT TOTALS | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
|
GENERAL FUND
|
$9,100,000 | $8,850,000 |
|
|
|
| DEPARTMENT TOTAL - ALL FUNDS | $9,100,000 | $8,850,000 |
Sec. 6. Effective date. This Act takes effect November 1, 2017.
summary
This bill increases the cigarette tax from $2.00 to $3.50 per pack of 20 cigarettes, beginning November 1, 2017. This bill also provides increased funding in the amount of $8,100,000 per year in ongoing funding to the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for tobacco use prevention and cessation in order to align with United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations. Finally, this bill provides $1,000,000 in fiscal year 2017-18 and $750,000 thereafter for MaineCare members for tobacco cessation medications and counseling.